There always seems to be a bunch of controversy over the trading of accounts and invites for bittorrent sites. To me, and in my own personal opinion, it's no different than trading marbles or baseball cards! I obviously can see the reason behind never offering real life cash in exchange for access to these sites, and I'd never condone that (it IS all pirated software anyways!). However, I DO believe in the occasional donation (of any amount, big or small) to help support the communities that I am a member of. Just a friendly way to say, "Hey, thanks for all the free stuff!".
I suppose the saying holds true that "you need to give a little to get a little", and this especially applies to the entire bittorrent universe. Understandably I believe the main reason for trading is so one individual can acquire the specific sites that he/she so desires. I'll be the first to admit that I did some minor trading to achieve my bittorrent site goals and now that I have everything I could possibly ever need, I can focus on giving BACK to the community, through free invites and the like.
On the other hand, some people are pure collectors (like those who invest in expensive foreign cars or sculptures/art). Bittorrent trading is nothing but a hobby to them and they enjoy spending their time climbing the ladder to reach the top-notch, cream of the crop websites. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about this, but after reading so many posts, digging through member history, and familiarizing myself with the different content that torrent site contains, I can honestly say that it could, in a way, "stabilize" the file sharing economy.
Sure, you're always going to have those bad seeds who try to monopolize whatever gain they might receive (ie. dupe accounts), but those who trade as if it were a sport are constantly recycling their accounts and websites to new people, in which case these new people might actually need/want the site for personal use! Not everyone is lucky enough to catch sign ups in time or have friends "on the inside" who could throw them a free invite. If you found out a real life buddy had access to this totally awesome bittorrent site, who then informed you that he no longer wanted it and was willing to give it to you, would you refuse and turn down the offer?
That might qualify more as a "giveaway", but in all technicality it is still handing the account over to a completely different person that is not the original owner.
So now that you've listened to me ramble for awhile, I guess I should get on with my intention! To trade or not to trade? THAT is the question!
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